Manchester bans plastic bags in stores

Sunday

Apr 7, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 7, 2013 at 7:11 AM

Manchester voted April 2 at its Annual Town Meeting to ban plastic bags and prohibit retail establishments from dispensing plastic checkout bags. The vote, with more than a two-thirds majority opting for the new restrictions, makes Manchester just the third Massachusetts community after Brookline and Nantucket Island to do away with plastic.

Dom Nicastro/Wicked Local Gloucester

Would that be paper – or paper?

Manchester voted April 2 at its Annual Town Meeting to ban plastic bags and prohibit retail establishments from dispensing plastic checkout bags. The vote, with more than a two-thirds majority opting for the new restrictions, makes Manchester just the third Massachusetts community after Brookline and Nantucket Island to do away with plastic.

The ban, if approved by the state attorney general, is scheduled to take effect July 1.

According to Town Administrator Wayne Melville, proponents of the measure put forth the article earlier this year, citing environmental hazards from plastic found around town.

Environment Massachusetts, a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization working toward a “cleaner, greener, healthier future,” released a statement saying last year’s beach cleanup in the Bay State yielded more than 5,000 pounds of plastic bags on the Massachusetts shoreline.

Plastic is one of the most harmful items to ocean wildlife, killing hundreds of thousands of marine animals each year, Environment Massachusetts reports. A recent study by the organization, “Top Ten Facts about Plastic Bags in the Ocean,” documents the harm that plastic bags can do to ocean wildlife, including the endangered leatherback sea turtles in Massachusetts Bay; 85 percent of sea turtles are injured or killed by plastic bags in their lifetimes.

“Environment Massachusetts applauds the decision taken by Manchester residents,” said the organization’s regional director, Johanna Neumann. “We hope the rest of the state will soon follow Manchester’s lead to protect our ocean from this destructive trash. Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute the ocean for thousands of years.”

State legislators are now considering two bills that would make Massachusetts the first state to ban plastic checkout bags.

State Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, praised Manchester in the statement by saying, “The good people of Manchester-by-the-Sea have sent a clear signal that a brief moment of convenience isn’t worth several lifetimes of harm. As communities around the state step up, it bolsters my bill’s efforts to address this scourge statewide. The time is now for Massachusetts to join a long list of countries, counties, cities, and towns around the world that have already done so.”

Melville said the Town Meeting decision to ban plastic bags – one backed by four out of five Selectmen (Thomas Kehoe did not support it) – would be good for the environment. But he told the Cape Ann Beacon he wished proponents of the article included and collaborated with town businesses such as Crosby’s Marketplace, which relies on plastic in its grocery business.

“They are the biggest business in town,” Melville said, “and they recycle any plastic bags.”

Melville suggested a provision that would require any business that distributes plastic bags to take them back and recycle them – rather than an outright town ban.

“Part of my job is working with people to try to building a consensus,” Melville said. “And in this case, I’m not sure if all the businesses knew this was going on.”

PLASTIC BAG REDUCTION

Article 25, Manchester Annual Town Meeting, 2013

The production and use of thin-?lm single-use plastic bags have signi?cant impacts on the marine and land environment of all coastal communities, including, but not limited to: contributing to the potential death of marine animals through ingestion and entanglement; contributing to pollution of the land environment; creating a burden to our solid waste collection and recycling facility; clogging our storm drainage systems; and requiring the use of millions of barrels of crude oil nationally for their manufacture. The purpose of this legislation is to eliminate the usage of thin-?lm single-use plastic bags by all retail establishments in the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea.

PROVISIONS

n Thin-?lm single-use plastic bags shall not be distributed or sold at any retail establishment within the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable or biodegradable shopping bags to stores. Retail establishments may provide reusable or biodegradable thick plastic, paper, fabric or other types of bags at no charge, or charge a fee for paper or other bags, as they so desire. Retail establishments are strongly encouraged to make reusable bags available for sale to customers at a reasonable price.

Thin-film plastic bags used to contain dry cleaning, newspapers, produce, meat, bulk foods, wet items and other similar merchandise, typically without handles, are exempt from the provisions of this by-law.

ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT

Retail establishments may apply to the Board of Selectmen for approval of new single-use bag products, as they come on the market, that meet, or exceed (specific) standards.

The Police Department will be the enforcement agent and is authorized to issue notice of violation.

Fines for civil penalties shall be issued as follows: 1) $50 per day for each day the violation persists; 2) $100 per day for each day that a new violation occurs after the resolution of the ?rst violation; 3) $200 per day for each day of any future violations that occur after the resolution of the second violation.